


A Friend Like Rey

by stjarna



Series: Writing Prompts / Drabbles / Requests [40]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Aro!Jemma, Aromantic, Bi!Fitz, Friendship, Gen, Queerplatonic Relationships, Queerplatonic!Fitz, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 11:52:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13681140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stjarna/pseuds/stjarna
Summary: This was written for @AchillesMonkey (@unlessImwrongwhichyounotImnot on Tumblr) for The Fitzsimmons Network Valentine's Day exchange.Prompt: Aromantic Simmons is confused/annoyed about all the romance happening around the base as Valentine's Day approaches. Her queerplatonic partner Fitz decides to give her an aromantic Valentine's Day.[She let me choose Fitz's romantic/sexual orientation myself, so I put in a hint of my Bi!Fitz headcanon.]





	A Friend Like Rey

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AchillesMonkey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AchillesMonkey/gifts).



> Big thank you to @dilkirani for the beta and to @theclaravoyant for giving it a pre-read as well.
> 
> Banner by me.

 

Jemma rounded the corner, heading down the corridor to the lab. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Nathanson standing by the door, attaching a poster of sorts to the glass window. She narrowed her eyes and walked with determination towards the other agent.

“What are you doing?” she barked, a bit more impatiently than strictly necessary.

Nathanson’s head shot around, his wide eyes nervously glancing back and forth between Jemma and the door. He gestured at the poster with his thumb. “Put—putting up the posters for the Valentine’s party.”

Jemma squinted in confusion, taking in the pink and red hearts on the poster and the fine calligraphy font, indeed announcing a S.H.I.E.L.D. Valentine’s Party. She pointed at the poster, staring at Nathanson. “Has this been authorized?”

“Umm,” Nathanson muttered. “Yes. Director Mace—”

“Ugh. Mace. Of course.” Jemma rolled her eyes, sighing in discontent.

Nathanson looked at her, slightly befuddled, before his lips pulled into a wide smile. “So, you’ll be coming?”

Jemma wrinkled her forehead, narrowing her eyes into thin slits. “Why would I do that?”

Nathanson shrugged. “Well, because it’s Valentine’s and everyone—”

“Everyone?” Jemma widened her eyes in anger. “ _Everyone?_ Now why would everyone—?” She paused, exhaling sharply to compose herself, before raising her hands halfway. “You know what? You’re wasting my time even more than usual.” She flipped her fingers forward, moving them front to back as if to wave away a bad smell. “Shoo.”

Nathanson’s eyes grew wide and he stared in confusion at Jemma’s hand motion.

“Shoo,” Jemma repeated a bit more sternly. “Shoo shoo shoo.”

Nathanson looked side to side, as if he were hoping for someone to rescue him. He awkwardly cleared his throat and quickly pushed against the bottom corner of the poster to make the adhesive stick more securely, before turning around and heading down the hallway with fast, nervous steps.

Jemma let out another cleansing breath before turning by 90 degrees and finally entering the lab. Fitz was sitting at his desk, but his chair was turned and he was looking directly at her, a hint of amusement lingering in his expression.

Jemma gestured behind herself towards the hallway. “Can you believe this?”

Fitz let out a sound between a snort and a laugh. “That you just shooed away Nathanson like a stray kitten? Yes. Yes, I can.”

“No. That’s not—” Jemma stopped in front of him, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “A Valentine’s Day Party?”

Fitz shrugged, swiveling his seat side to side. “A team that trusts is a team that triumphs. A team that parties is a team that—I don’t know—gets pissed and—” 

“But Valentine’s Day, Fitz!” Jemma interjected. “Why make it themed? And Valentine’s of all things! It’s cheesy, and over the top, and not everyone—I mean, it seems utterly ridiculous. Hunter asked me if a candlelight dinner or a picnic under the stars was more romantic.”

When Fitz only looked back at her in silence, Jemma decided to continue her rant undisturbed. “I mean, Bobbi and Hunter are at each other’s throats 364 days a year, but suddenly Valentine’s Day comes around and they feel the need to celebrate their love with romantic gestures and candlelight and chocolate and champagne and caviar? It seems hypocritical.”

“Little bit,” Fitz piped up quietly.

“And now Mace is throwing a Valentine’s Day party?” Jemma gestured at the poster. “As if Valentine’s Day weren’t already annoying enough, he now needs to make it a social affair, pressuring people to—”

“You know you don’t have to go, right?” His voice was quiet and soft, one corner of his mouth ticked into a friendly half-smile.

“I know, but—”

Fitz stood up, tucking his hands in his pockets, and leaning against the desk instead. “And not everything about Valentine’s Day is cheesy and over the top. It can be personal too, and sweet.”

Jemma sighed, uncrossing her arms and relaxing her muscles. “I know,” she replied, quietly.

Fitz pressed his lips into a closed-mouth smile, raising his eyebrows.

Jemma rolled her eyes, dropping her head back and groaning loudly. “God, the way I snapped at Nathanson just now. What’s wrong with me?”

“Well, that’s a long list,” Fitz teased her, his eyes sparkling mischievously.

“Fitz!” Jemma gasped, reaching out to slap Fitz’s arm.

Fitz flinched back, unable to suppress a giggle. “I’m kidding!”

Against her better judgment, Jemma heard herself laugh as well. “Yes, I’m aware but— cheap shot.”

An apologetic smile flashed across Fitz’s face. He wet his lips, looking at Jemma with soft, friendly eyes. “Jemma, there’s nothing wrong with you. Loads of people don’t like Valentine’s Day for loads of different reasons, and they’re all valid. You’re not being shallow. You’re annoyed because… because there’s this one bloody day in the year where all of a sudden the entire world decides that you should be a certain way or act a certain way but you’re _not_.” He placed his hands on Jemma’s shoulders, squeezing them gently. “You’re different and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Jemma smiled in gratitude.

“So,” Fitz continued, “be annoyed.” He shrugged, ticking his head to one side. “Just—you know—maybe try not to make Nathanson cry, because then he comes to me and gets all whiny and—”

Jemma couldn’t help but chuckle. “He does not.”

Fitz scoffed in amusement. “No, he does not, but I think you get my point.”

Jemma sighed. “It’s okay to be annoyed by Valentine’s Day. My feelings about love and romance are valid. And I should just ignore the whole damn thing.”

Fitz scrunched his nose, seemingly in disagreement. “Well, that’s one—”

“Agent Fitz?”

They both turned to look at the door at Agent Davis.

“Yes?” Fitz asked, letting go of Jemma’s shoulders.

Davis gestured over his shoulder with his thumb. “Director Mace wants to see you.”

“Right.” Fitz nodded, before looking at Jemma almost apologetically. “I… Talk later?”

“Yes, sure.” Jemma forced a smile. The conversation with Fitz certainly had made her feel better, but the uneasy feeling still hadn’t disappeared.

* * *

* * *

“Here you go!”

Jemma gasped and flinched at the unexpected interruption, pressing her hand reflexively against her chest. She looked up from the microscope, glaring at Fitz in annoyance. “Good lord, don’t sneak up on people like that!”

Fitz pulled his lips into a wide, sheepish grin. “Sorry,” he muttered half-heartedly, before reaching forward and tapping with his index and middle finger on a piece of paper which he’d slid onto the workbench when Jemma had been too focused on her samples. “For you.”

Jemma squinted in confusion. She grabbed the paper from the table and started reading, her eyes immediately stopping at the first line: February 14th.

Jemma looked back at Fitz in bewilderment. “What’s this?”

Fitz enthusiastically flicked the top corner of the paper. “Our itinerary.”

“Itinerary?”

Fitz bobbed his head. “Yes. Our February 14th itinerary.”

Jemma rolled her eyes, drawing in an exasperated breath. “Ugh. Valentine’s Day? Are you serious? After everything—”

“No,” Fitz interjected, “not Valentine’s Day. How stupid do you think I am?”

Jemma ticked her head to one side, her expression softening just a little. “You’re not stupid, Fitz.”

Fitz shrugged. “Exactly.”

“But, Fitz—”

“Look, it says right here,” Fitz said, pointing at the top of the paper in Jemma’s hand. “February 14th.”

Jemma scoffed. “Yes, and February 14th is Valentine’s Day.”

Fitz lifted his shoulders, staring at her wide-eyed. “Well, that’s really not February 14th’s fault!”

Jemma couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Okay, look.” Fitz raised one hand in a halting gesture, while fidgeting with the other with his back pocket. “If you insist that it’s not simply February 14th, then I’ve devised a list of other possible reasons to celebrate.”

He pulled out a piece of paper, unfolding it with a sense of importance and smoothing out the paper. He cleared his throat, holding the top and bottom of the sheet as if he were reading a royal decree to the peasant masses. “Herbert A. Hauptman, born February 14th, 1917, won the Nobel prize in Chemistry in 1985, mathematician who changed the whole field of chemistry with developing new methods.”

Jemma couldn’t quite hide her amusement. She turned slightly in her seat to face Fitz more directly and let him continue his carefully prepared speech.

“Margaret E. Knight, born February 14th, 1838, called ‘the most famous 19th-century woman inventor’, best known for the invention of the flat-bottomed paper bag, first woman awarded a U.S. patent and holder of 87 U.S. patents.”

Jemma pursed her lips, nodding in admiration and acknowledgement.

“Or,” Fitz continued, raising his index finger importantly, “my personal top choice: Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, born February 14th, 1869, physicist and meteorologist, inventor of the cloud chamber, for which he won the Nobel prize in Physics in 1927, and—might I add—he’s Scottish!”

Jemma laughed out loud. “Oh, Fitz.”

“Come on, Simmons.” Fitz slumped his shoulders. “Could you try to read past the date and actually look at the fantastic day I’ve planned?” He gestured at the list that Jemma was still holding. “You. Me. Absolutely no cheese involved.” He paused, ticking his head side to side. “Okay, that’s not true because there’s pizza on the list, but nothing cheesy, over the top, or romantic.”

Jemma sighed, staring at the list, her eyes not quite willing to actually read it.

“Hey, remember _Love Actually_?”

Jemma’s head shot back in Fitz’s direction, her mouth gaping slightly ajar.

Fitz raised both hands in a calming gesture. “Yes, I realize, considering that even though the movie explores a wide variety of relationships, it primarily focuses on romantic relationships, this seems like a weird choice to bring up right now—”

“Plus, it’s a Christmas movie, Fitz,” Jemma added, noticeably annoyed.

“Yes, yes, yes, I realize, but hear me out,” Fitz chimed in, still holding his hands up in defense, before tapping the center of his left palm with his right index and middle finger. “Remember the musician and his manager?”

“Yeees?” Jemma furrowed her brow, skeptically.

“And at the end of the movie the musician ditches Elton John’s party, so he can spend time with his best friend, the person he loves. Remember? ‘Let’s get pissed and watch porn.’ That’s what I’ve planned.”

Jemma scrunched her face in disgust.

A panicked expression flashed across Fitz’s face. “Minus the porn, obviously. And, and, and we don’t have to get pissed, although I was planning for some Bendeery.”

“You’re comparing our relationship to that of a chubby, middle-aged manager and a drunk, inappropriate, swearing, aging rock star has-been?”

Fitz shrugged. “Kinda. I mean: no. I mean: yes. The… the core of that relationship, best friends who love each other, and want to spend time together on important days, such as Christmas, or—” He gestured at the list in Jemma’s hands. “February 14th.”

“Valentine’s Day?”

“Herbert Hauptman’s birthday. Margaret Knight. Charles Wilson.”

“Valentine’s Day?” Jemma repeated.

Fitz slumped his shoulders in defeat. “Fine, Valentine’s Day. But Valentine’s Day as _us_. You. Me. I mean look—” Once again, Fitz pointed at the list in Jemma’s hand. “Breakfast à la Fitz!”

“You’re making your scrambled eggs?” Jemma asked, a hint of an excited glimmer in her eyes.

“Wouldn’t be breakfast à la Fitz without my renowned scrambled eggs.”

Jemma pursed her lips, ticking her head slightly to one side. “They are rather delightful.”

Fitz pointed at her, grinning widely. “Exactly, and then—” He tapped at the piece of paper.

“Work at the lab. Dissecting disgusting things and/or analyzing gooey gross samples,” Jemma read aloud.

“Yes, basically business as usual, but—” Fitz raised his index finger importantly, before gesturing with it at the list.

“Fitz will refrain from making gagging sounds and/or uttering complaints of any sort.” Jemma glanced up at him, a smirk playing on her lips. “Really?” 

“Yes. Scout’s honor!” Fitz executed a quick salute. “And then we’ll do sandwiches for lunch. More work at the lab, once again without any complaints from me, and for the evening: pizza, beers, Star Wars. No hidden agenda.”

“Star Wars?” Jemma’s eyes widened in curiosity. She looked down on the list. “The Force Awakens.”

“Yes. Featuring Rey, one of the greatest aro heroes ever to exist for you,” Fitz gestured at Jemma before pressing the tips of his fingers into his own chest, “and a cute gay couple in the making for me.”

Jemma laughed out loud, rolling her eyes slightly. “Right, because you only fancy Poe and Finn, not Rey.”

Fitz lifted his shoulders. “’Course I fancy Rey, but I respect who she is.”

Jemma unsuccessfully tried to suppress a snort. “Fitz, even if Rey weren’t aro, you wouldn’t stand a chance.”

Fitz gasped in pretend outrage. “First of all: ouch, Simmons, ouch. And second of all: Rey’s aro, making your hypothetical insult null and void.”

Jemma chuckled. “I suppose there’s no arguing against that.”

“Precisely.” Fitz bobbed his head in agreement. Then he shrugged, wiggling his eyebrows. “So, what do you say? Is the itinerary approved?”

Jemma looked at Fitz, a smile playing on her lips. She inhaled deeply, taking another look at the list in front of her. “I’d like to make an addendum,” she announced, importantly.

Fitz wrinkled his forehead in mild confusion. “What’s that?”

Jemma grinned widely. She grabbed a pen from the desk and scribbled some additional text onto the piece of paper, before handing it to Fitz.

“February 15th: Raid discounted chocolate sales,” Fitz read aloud. “That’s an addendum I can get behind.”

“I figured as much,” Jemma replied. “Now let me get back to my samples. And you better go practice keeping your mouth shut, because I intend to study the gooiest, grossest samples and dissect the most disgusting things your mind can conjure up come February 14th.”

Fitz scoffed, folding up the itinerary and tucking it into his back pocket. “Challenge accepted, Simmons. Challenge accepted!”

Fitz turned to leave when Simmons called out his name, causing him to stop mid-turn.

“Yeah?” Fitz looked back at Simmons wide-eyed.

“Rey’d be lucky to have a friend like you.” There was a sincerity in her eyes that conveyed much more than the words she'd spoken.

Fitz huffed briefly, a smile playing on his lips. “Yeah, well, I’m lucky to have a friend like Rey.”

 


End file.
